Dallas County reports 7 more coronavirus deaths; Tarrant County sees 6 new deaths

The latest Dallas County victims included three Dallas residents, two Irving residents and two residents of long-term care facilities, one in Mesquite and one in Richardson.

This photo, courtesy of the National Institutes of Health taken with a scanning electron microscope, shows SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19.(HANDOUT / National Institutes of Health/AF)

Updated 7:15 p.m.: Revised to include details from a Dallas County news conference.

Dallas County has seen new highs in recently reported cases of coronavirus this week, with Tuesday bringing in the highest single-day total during the pandemic.

Those recent increases in new positive cases have occurred without a significant increase in testing, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said. But they could be attributed to a change in testing criteria, which allows frontline workers at grocery stores and big-box retail stores to get tested for COVID-19 without symptoms.

Jenkins said the county doesn’t have full visibility into testing going on in private labs, but the testing the county is part of “hasn’t gone up appreciably” in the last 10 to 14 days.

Some have speculated the new cases have been mainly coming from nursing homes, the judge said. But just 64 cases in the past week are from nursing homes, he said.

“So the vast majority of the cases are coming from people who are out in the general population, in the workforce, getting sick,” he said.

The seven latest victims included three Dallas residents, two Irving residents and two residents of long-term care facilities, one in Mesquite and one in Richardson.

The Dallas victims were all men — one in his 40s, one in his 50s and one in his 60s. The Irving residents were a woman in her 60s and a man in his 70s.

The two residents of long-term care facilities were a woman in her 50s who lived in a Richardson facility and had been hospitalized and a man in his 60s who died at a long-term care facility in Mesquite.

About 36% of the county’s deaths reported so far have been associated with long-term care facilities, according to the county.

Dallas County also reported 253 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, bringing the total number of positive cases to 4,623.

As Gov. Greg Abbott announced plans to further reopen businesses in the state, Jenkins said he would have a committee of medical experts look over the governor’s order to share recommendations on when it is safe to return to normal life.

Those recommendations aren’t meant to undermine the governor’s order, he said — the committee will aim to get people information to “help you make your best choices,” Jenkins said.

“I think we’ve got a lot of people in the public that are asking, ‘OK, I know now when I can go to the movies,’ or, ‘Now I’ve heard when I can get my hair done, but the question is what do the doctors here say … would be the safest thing for me and my family to do?’" Jenkins said.

He said the county would also begin to release medical metrics unlikely to fluctuate with increases in coronavirus testing, such as emergency room visits, hospitalizations and intensive care admissions for COVID-19.

On Monday, about 62% of intensive care unit beds in 25 Dallas hospitals were occupied, and roughly 35% of total ventilators were in use, according to data from the Dallas mayor’s office.

The percentage of occupied ICU beds dipped slightly Monday after it had fluctuated between about 64% and 68% during the previous seven days.

Since March 13, Dallas County Health and Human Services had conducted 2,523 tests for COVID-19, according to data from the city of Dallas. In private labs, more than 19,000 tests have been conducted. In total, 18,214 tests have gotten negative results for COVID-19.

Those totals don’t include numbers from the community-based testing sites at the American Airlines Center or the Ellis Davis Field House, because those tests are conducted in a lab outside Dallas city limits.

Those two sites, plus mobile testing units, saw 1,022 visitors Monday and conducted 1,000 tests. Since the sites opened, 20,926 tests have been conducted as of Monday, according to the mayor’s office.

Tarrant County

Tarrant County officials reported six more deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, the county’s second-most reported in a single day.

The victims were four Fort Worth residents — a man in his 50s, a woman in his 50s and two men in their 80s — a Grapevine woman in her 80s and a Keller woman in her 80s. All six had underlying health conditions, officials said.

Eighty-three total coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in Tarrant County. Seven were reported Thursday, the day with the county’s highest toll.

“These latest deaths are sad and troubling to all of us,” Vinny Taneja, the county’s public health director, said in a written statement.

The county also reported 62 additional cases of COVID-19. There have been 2,686 total cases, with 653 recoveries, according to the county’s data.

Collin County

Collin County reported 24 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, bringing the county’s total to 828.

The county did not report any new COVID-19 deaths Tuesday afternoon, so its toll stands at 22, including 14 residents of long-term care facilities.

Eleven lived at the Oxford Grand facility in McKinney, one lived at the Life Care Center of Plano, and two lived at Grand Brook Memory Care of McKinney, according to data provided by the county.

At Oxford Grand, a spokeswoman said Monday that of 15 residents who tested positive for the virus, 12 have died.

A county spokesman said that while the Oxford Grand has confirmed a 12th death to reporters, the county hasn’t received a positive test result from a lab for that individual, so it isn’t part of the county’s total.

Five employees have also tested positive for COVID-19 at the Oxford Grand. All have either recovered or are recovering, the spokeswoman said.

The 14 long-term care residents reported to have died in Collin County — eight women and six men — ranged in age from 80 to 102. Only one, a resident of Grand Brook Memory Care of McKinney, was hospitalized, according to the county’s data.

The first death was reported April 5, and the most recent was Friday.

The county has also reported that 549 people who tested positive for the virus have now recovered.

Denton County

Denton County announced 26 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing its total to 832.

The county reported no new deaths, so the total remained at 22.

Officials said 396 people have recovered from the virus, including four new recoveries.

Rockwall County

Rockwall County recorded two more COVID-19 cases Monday night, county health officials said.

The county has now had 102 cases of the virus, including three deaths and 56 recoveries.

Additionally, the county said five more people have tested positive for the virus at Broadmoor Medical Lodge in Rockwall. There have now been 39 cases at the facility, including 20 residents and 19 staff. Three of the residents who contracted the virus have died.

The county said the first round of testing residents and staff at the facility is complete, and the second round has already started.

A drive-through testing site will be available in the county Wednesday. Tests will be available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Lake Pointe Church, 701 E. Interstate 30. The site will be able to test people with symptoms of the virus, as well as health care workers, first responders and grocery store employees who aren’t showing symptoms.

The site will test people by appointment only. Appointments can be scheduled by visiting txcovidtest.org or by calling 512-883-2400.

Kaufman County

Officials in Kaufman County reported six new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, along with nine presumptive recoveries from the illness.

The county has had 96 total cases, including one death and 70 recoveries.

Johnson County

Johnson County health authorities said Tuesday that there were five new positive coronavirus tests, bringing the county’s total to 102.

Sixty-three of those patients have been released from isolation, and four Johnson County residents have died, including one who was out of state.

Dana Branham, Breaking news reporter. Dana is a reporter at The Dallas Morning News covering crime and breaking news. She graduated in 2017 from the University of Oklahoma, where she studied journalism. Before coming to The News in 2018, Dana interned at the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Tulsa World.

Catherine Marfin, Breaking News Reporter. Catherine covers breaking news at The Dallas Morning News. She is a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied journalism and public relations. While at UT, Catherine served as managing editor of The Daily Texan, UT's student paper, and interned at the Texas Tribune and Houston Chronicle.

Tom Steele, Breaking News Producer. Tom has covered breaking news for The Dallas Morning News since 2016. He has worked in a number of other capacities for The News since 2007, and he was previously a copy editor at The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Fla. He has degrees in journalism and economics from Lehigh University.